Where's My Happiness?
by Viola Orpheus
Summary: What would you do if you have never felt any kind of happiness in your life, and yet you end up teaming with a hyper-active girl to save the world?
1. Prologue

**Story Summary: **What would you do if you never felt any kind of happiness at all in your life, and yet you end up teaming with a hyper-active girl to save the world? Every once in a while you start to feel something you've never felt before, what can it be?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Timeline:** Takes place after FFVII and FFVII: AC, which means this takes place in 2008 as AC takes place during 2009 and the original in 2007.

**Author's Note: **I haven't played the original FFVII on the PS1, so I may make some mistakes concerning about the characters or places. But I'll try my best to keep the characters in their original personalities but there are times I might modify their actions for the story to move on, possibly except for Yuffie as I based her character from Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus and not from her original FFVII appearance. But, I'm not sure if her personality is the same from AC/DoC and VII.

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**~~Where's My Happiness?~~**

"Is he still there?" A gray-haired man asked his secretary while his feet were on the desk.

"Yes, yes he is. He's still... running."

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"Man, how many of these guys are there!?" I asked while was running from several infantrymen. I was holding a sword, but I held it backwards, which is very uncommon but unique. I leaped onto a crate and out through the window, somehow I landed on something that broke my fall.

"Damn, I never knew this place was huge." I was staring down at least 30 floors in the air, on a huge Shinra factory. Below it was a dark abyss, but I'm sure there was land because how would this place exist without it?

The air was fresh, but it had a hint of smoke hidden in it. My enjoyment was cut short as gunshots passed through my face. I turned around to see a dozen of infantrymen surrounding me with their guns pointed at my head and chest.

"You guys just won't quit would you?"

"Ready men? Fire!" They all fired at nearly the same time, but clearly I was fast enough to dodge them but several were able to penetrate my legs and chest. I felt the pain stinging through my whole body which made me land on my knees.

The soldiers stopped firing and soon closed in on me. They aimed once again.

"Fire!" Their leader shouted again. But I was ready this time, as I jumped into the abyss. I felt my body getting more painful as I fall, which would only have gotten worse as I landed. I felt a couple of bones broke and my insides feel thrashed. I was struggling to get up, but my body was heavy and painful.

My eyes were closing, but before they truly did, I saw something rushing close to me, but I couldn't make it out. After that, everything was a blur.

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The secretary sighed and placed her hand over her face. "You had to teach him how to fight."

"I knew he had potential. I couldn't let it pass by. Besides, I know he will be back." Said 'the boss' with a smile across his face before standing up and walking off to a meeting.

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I didn't know how, I felt like I was lifted a great load on my body. As when I tried to wake up, I never felt any pain. Just flat out tired. I opened my eyes and scanned my surroundings. I saw I was in a small bedroom and I was on a bed with a red and white checkered blanket over me.

"Wh...Where am I?" I said to no one before sitting up with my hand over my forehead. The door opened up and a young looking girl appeared from behind it.

"You're awake! I really thought you weren't gonna wake up. You had me worried there for a moment." She said really enthusiastically while bouncing her way to me.

_'Wow, who gave her five cups of coffee today?'_ I thought to myself, and I gave her a confused look.

"I'm sorry, I'm Yuffie! Nice to meet you." She extended her arm out to me. That enough made me feel uncomfortable.

"I'm uhh... I'm Jonah." I extended my own arm to reach hers and we shook hands.

"You know you really looked dead when I found you. You were bleeding a lot and your arm was nearly dislocated."

I looked over my arm, it was fine, just wrapped up in bandages, it wasn't too thick, but I can feel it was enough to let my arm move freely.

"Luckily, I had enough potions and Materia to help you." She had a smile that could have reached her ears if she tried. She was really starting to bug me, but I didn't show it.

_'I guess someone really gave her five cups of coffee.'_

The door once again opened, I can tell this time the woman was slightly taller, probably three or four years older from Yuffie.

"Yuffie, do you mind not talking too loud? You're gonna wake up Denzel." The woman said in a slightly soft and angry tone.

_'Now that she mentioned it, it was dark outside, it's probably sometime after midnight.'_

"Oh hey Tifa. I just came up here to check up on him."

"Hey, I guess he's up." The woman known as Tifa, walked in and came closer to the us. "Hi I'm Tifa, and you are?" She wasn't angry anymore and was in sort of a happier mood.

"I'm Jonah. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. I hope Yuffie wasn't troubling you. Oh, I hope you have checked your stuff, because Yuffie here had a thing for stealing stuff a few months back." To that I checked my wallet and my pockets to see if everything was still there. I was relieved to know all's well.

"Hey! I wasn't gonna steal! You know I already put the past behind me ri-?" Yuffie was cut off and was sort of shouting, which made me think she really might have been thinking of robbing me in my sleep.

"Shh! Keep it down!" Tifa moved over to Yuffie to shut her up with her hand over her mouth. The door had opened once again. This time a younger boy entered the room rubbing his eyes.

"What's happening in here?"

"You see what you did? You woke Denzel up."

"Oh Denz, I'm sorry!"

"Since when was my name Denz?" The boy called Denzel replied.

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**Yeah, this one didn't move the story much right? But I promise the next ones will move the story. Until then, enjoy with this peeps!**


	2. A Walk Around Edge

**Story Summary: **What would you do if you never felt any kind of happiness at all in your life, and yet you end up teaming with a hyper-active girl to save the world? Every once in a while you start to feel something you've never felt before, what can it be?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: Wow, half a year of not updating? Geez... Sorry guys, I was extremely busy with school work. With me being a Freshman made it worse. Now it's summer vacation and I really want to continue this before I become a Sophomore next school year. Well, I hope you guys enjoy!**

**Chapter updated on April 25, 2010 to be made more realistic.  
**

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**~~The Next Day~~**

Jonah's Point of View

I woke up a few hours later, and I was... sweating? Oh right... I remember having a nightmare about my time before I got here. Anyway, my eyes were still closed but I can feel a presence of another person in the room. I slowly opened my eyes, visions blurred for a moment but eventually cleared up. To no surprise the person who I felt nearby was Yuffie.

"Are you here to take my stuff?" My throat was still dry so that came out a little soft and rough.

"No, I came here to check on you, if you were alright. Do you know that you talk in your sleep?" She asked with enthusiasm, but with a hint of concern in her voice.

"What are you talking about?" I sat up but by doing so my head hurt and made me growl a groan, but it wasn't much to keep me down.

"I thought you were up, but when I came up here, it looked like you were only having a nightmare or something."

"So what was it about?" She asked before jumping onto the other bed.

"Just... A memory..." I couldn't keep eye contact with her, in fact I couldn't even look at her straight.

"About what?"

"...It was..."

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At first I thought I was talking about my nightmare, I don't know how or why, but I told her my past.

"Wow, you went through all of that?" She seemed amazed and fascinated about me that I could have sworn I saw her blush when I looked at her directly in the eye.

"Yeah..." I wasn't feeling comfortable about telling her nearly everything about me and where I came from, but it's not that I don't trust her, it just... I mean, she's a girl... It feels different compared to having a guy listening to your story.

"So, what do you plan on doing now?"

"The only thing I can come up with now is to destroy the facility that kept me and others away from life. But first, may I know where I am right now?"

"I was wondering when you'll ask me that. Well, to sum it up, you're in Midgar Edge. This bar you're in is called "7th Heaven" just in case you might get lost."

"That narrows it down alright. Well, I'd better get a move on." I attempted to jump off the bed but Yuffie stopped me from doing so.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You wouldn't wanna strain yourself already, take a break! You just escaped where you most despised of. It must have taken a lot from you."

"OK this is new. Since when were you this nice to me?"

She simply crossed her arms across her chest with a small frown. "No reason. I just felt like it." I could tell she was somewhat lying, yet telling the truth at the same time.

"Anyway," I had to break this silence, really. "Mind taking me around the place for a tour? I want to know this place better." I moved the blanket that was covering me to the side and stood up.

"Okay!" Her face suddenly blew full of life as she turned back to me and that million-watt smile of hers returned.

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"I guess that's that." My tour was quick and wasn't totally detailed, but it gave me enough time to study the area and a few landmarks which I should remember like the huge intersection several alleyways down from here, and the unfinished highway which went on for miles above the city. Simply put, I was amazed by this place. A place so peaceful and beautiful.

"Hey, you OK in there?" I was suddenly knocked out of my thoughts as Yuffie poked my head with her finger to make sure I wasn't spacing out or something.

"Huh? What?" Unfortunately, I was.

Yuffie groaned from this. "You weren't paying attention were you?"

Nope sorry.

"Ugh... I was saying, tell me more about yourself. Like what are your likes and dislikes, your interests, your fears. You know, those stuff."

"OK, well... I don't know where to start. Um... I like playing sports. I don't like my boss. I'm interested in guns. I fear the dark."

"You don't have to be so literal and straight forward you know!" Yuffie now had a frowny face plastered all over her million-watt smile.

"What?" Yuffie just groaned and continued walking; to where, I don't know.

That was then we bumped into someone.

"Hey! Yuffie!" A big man with what looked like a minigun attached to his arm, but it looked like it could do more than that, was waving his arm to us signaling he must have wanted to talk to us or something.

"Hey Barret!" Yuffie waved back. "Stay here for a minute." She ran over to who she called 'Barret' and looked like they were talking about me. After a minute more or less, she quickly ran back to me and grabbed my hand. "You're coming with me." She suddenly started dragging me to where the big man was.

"Jonah this is Barret. Barret, Jonah." She introduced me to Barret quicker than I could react.

"Nice to meet ya kid!" He extended his arm offering a handshake.

"Um... Nice to meet you too." I tried to force a smile on my face as I shook Barret's hand, which were huge by the way.

"So Yuffie. Is this young man your boyfriend?" If I had food in my mouth I would have choked on it right now. But, all that came out was a huge cough from me.

Yuffie had the same reaction, but showed it differently. She was blushing madly with her eyes and mouth wide open. "B-b-boyfriend?" She was standing stiff like she had a cramp or something.

"Yeah, I saw you two walking together and seeing your reaction now, I could tell you two are going out!"

Please don't said that out loud. People might hear us!

I tried to regain my composure as my heart tried to calm down from that. "Uh, no no. She was just showing me around the place. I'm actually new here."

"Nah, I'm just kidding you two!" Barret had a big grin on his face, which made me want to punch him if I could. "Still though, do be careful around him Yuffie. Who knows what he might do to ya."

"Hey! I'm a big girl now!"

"Big girl eh? Well, good luck then!" He patted Yuffie's head which only annoyed her from my view as she groaned again. "Well, I gotta jet, still have to pick up some grocery items." He waved goodbye to us as he soon disappeared from our sights.

"Man! Barret really gets on my nerves sometimes!" To my amazement, she still had that blush of hers stuck on her face. I'll have to admit, the way she does that is frankly quite cute. Wait, what am I saying?

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**A/N: Not much right? But I was just making sure Jonah at least knew the place and knew some of the people that he would rely on sometime in the future. And why did I use "million-watt smile"? I must have been reading a lot of Haruhi Suzumiya fanfics these days.**


	3. Disappearance

**Story Summary: **What would you do if you never felt any kind of happiness at all in your life, and yet you end up teaming with a hyper-active girl to save the world? Every once in a while you start to feel something you've never felt before, what can it be?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: I know Yuffie went out of character in the previous chapter, but I kind of felt like doing it and that she had this side of hers that was never shown in the movie or the games.**

**Also, if anyone is willing to beta the upcoming chapters, please PM me. Because I want to make sure I'm doing this right. Anyway enjoy! Please review when you're done!**

**Chapter was updated on April 25, 2010 to be made more plausible.**

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**~~Disappearance~~**

Today would make it the seventh day ever since I came to Edge. Somehow I feel closer to everyone I have met throughout the time I was here. Although since Cloud and Vincent were being too much of a loner and being gone for most of the time, I can sense the others trying their best to get closer to them whenever they're around.

At the same time of all of this, I can admit the fact that Yuffie was starting to get rather attached to me. Or is it the other way around? Either way, I have felt more comfortable around her even though she gets on my nerves sometimes. Is this what they call being friends or something?

Yuffie snapped me out of my thoughts with, "Hey... You wanna...wanna go get a bite to... eat somewhere?" I glanced over at her, I noticed she had a small tint of pink on her cheeks and trying to avoid eye contact while rubbing the back of her neck with her left arm.

"Um... Sure. What do you have in mind?" Did I have a choice? I couldn't say no to her.

"Great! I know this place where they sell hotdogs!" I was sort of taken back by her reaction, as she looked like a kid who found out her birthday present was her dream toy doll. She had her million watt smile of hers, so what's the worst that could happen?

Suddenly she was dragging me to wherever this place was.

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At first I thought this day would just be normal, nothing too exciting. Me and Yuffie were taking our daily strolls down the alleyways and the different areas of the city while eating our hotdogs which I found out weren't made from dogs at all. It was actually called that because it resembled an extinct breed of dog which was also called a hotdog.

When it happened.

We saw Fira, Blizzara and Thundara spells rain down from above and killed several innocent civilians which in turn cause the entire block to be in panic. Most were already running away and some were in hiding.

Yuffie and I were in shock with what had happened that we didn't have enough to time to react or notice that Fira and Thundara spells were already headed towards us.

We both were hit, but it wasn't anything major. Although the Thundara spell managed to knock out the air out of my lungs for the moment because I think it was targeted at my chest, which made me drop to my knees as I tried to regain my breath.

I looked up to see three people standing a good distance from us. One of them had red-colored spiky hair, while the other was a female blonde with long wavy hair with bangs covering her left eye, and their leader was a brunette with shorter hair that went down to his shoulders.

Their clothes were consisted of graffiti hoodies (Who would wear something like that in the summer?), and dark navy blue pants. They looked like they would stand out from the crowd with those outfits, but it seemed like they were able to blend in somehow.

Unfortunately, I knew these people. The red-hair was Satoshi, the blonde female was Aya, and their brunette leader was Junuichi. I remember seeing them before I ran away, and they seemed to get along with each other during sessions.

They were also higher on the rankings that we were assigned to, so that means this won't end well if this turned into a fight.

I glanced over at Yuffie, she didn't seemed to be fazed over the attacks that were launched at us and she was still standing. Holding her giant-sized shuriken at her hand.

As I stood up, Junuichi started talking.

"Hey there Jonah. The boss really wants you to come back. He was really upset when you left."

"Yeah? So what? I never gave a damn about him anyway." I never did actually, although I was sort of grateful for giving me a place to stay in, but it all vanished once I actually got there.

"Such harsh words. I'm hurt."

"Do you know these guys?" Yuffie whispered to me.

"Yeah."

"So who are they?"

"Hey Jonah, who's the cutie beside you? Is she your girlfriend?" Aya teased.

"Hey!" Yuffie retaliated.

"Oh, she's feisty." Yuffie had groaned with that remark.

"Do not worry. We are not here to fight."

"Not here to fight!? You killed all of those people!" Yuffie was obviously getting angry, as I saw her grip her shuriken more, to the point that I thought she would break it.

"We had to get your attention somehow." With that, she threw her shuriken at Junuichi.

Big mistake.

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I angrily launched my shuriken towards the man in front. He caught it without any problem. I wasn't surprised though.

"Foolish girl. I already said we didn't come for a fight. But it seems you have angered my friend here." He pointed over at the red-head. Who from my point of view, was actually kind of mad. I was already thinking of what he would do, would he attack me from behind? Above? Right? Le-

"That was dumb move Yuffie." Jonah stopped from spacing out with that sentence. "He could kill us in less than a minute if we're not careful." Jonah was suddenly so serious, it got me worried. But I tried to focus on the battle that was unfolding that I tried to wipe the thought out of my head.

"I really wish we had to avoid this." Said the brunette as he suddenly appeared infront of me. He quickly grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up. It would appear as he's choking me, and he really is.

"Leave her alone!" Jonah relentlessly charged at my attacker, but he was cut off by the red-head who kicked him out of the way. I couldn't see anything else from my point of view, but I can tell there was a fight going on behind me.

Their female assisted Jonah's opponent by lashing out different kinds of magic at him. I sensed Jonah wasn't doing so well because it was two-against-one.

"You seem distracted." I was brought back to the real world as my attacker spoke. "You're way out of character for a ninja." I would have said something back but his grip -which I was trying to free myself of - only tightened more. I didn't know how long I could last much longer. I was trying to kick him, but I couldn't find enough strength to do so.

"It's useless." He tightened his grip once more, I knew I was going to die. That was then he let go. I was gasping for air as I landed on the ground.

He didn't give me enough time to recover though, as he quickly kicked me in the face. I was now lying on my side, desperately trying to catch my breath. Once again, he interrupted it by kicking me in the stomach, knocking the air out that I had already regained.

Clutching my stomach, I was rolled over to see that Jonah was already down. My eyes opened wide as I saw him lying there.

My body was then hauled over beside him, which only made my situation worse. My vision was suddenly getting blurry, as I couldn't make out who was in front of me.

"Yuffie..." I heard Jonah say my name in a whisper. "Get out of here."

"But-"

"I said get out of here!" I never saw this side of Jonah before, despite the fact that he's only been here for a week. "This is my fight, not yours. If you get involved, you're surely gonna get killed." He said back, before coughing up a little blood.

"I can't just leave you!"

"Never mind about me. My only objective now is to keep you safe." He looked at me with a determined face.

"Well well, isn't this a touching moment?" The blonde said out of nowhere.

"Shut up. Leave her alone, I'm the one you want." He quickly got up and placed his hands behind his head.

"What are you-?" I quickly followed still clutching my stomach, but I was interrupted as he held me by my shoulders. He was taller than me so I had to keep my head leveled up.

"Listen to me. Like I said before, my only objective now is to keep you safe and alive." I didn't know what to do. Tears quickly ran down my cheeks within a second.

"Why?" Was all I could say.

"Because I don't want you to die, I don't want for you to lose that smile of yours. So... I guess you could say I love you." I felt my body tense up with his words.

"OK, enough of that. This is getting on my nerves." As the blonde said that, I noticed I couldn't move.

It seems Jonah caught notice of this as well. "What did you do to her!?" I could tell his anger was off the charts.

"Nothing, I merely paralyzed her."

"Alright Jonah, it's your choice. Come with us, or she dies." Typical cliche moment wouldn't you agree?

"Fine." He let go of me and started to walk towards them. "I'm sorry."

"We could stick around and talk, but we're running out of time." Just as they were going to run off. "Oh, and you can have this back." Their leader threw my shuriken back at me with little effort and I could have sworn the female mutter something.

From my point of view, the shuriken dissolved itself into several (I count a dozen or more) smaller shurikens. They've all hit me in different parts of my body. Some went through my arms, legs, torso and hips, while one managed to get a scratch on my cheek. I didn't feel the pain in anyway though. I just saw my body fall down on the ground on my front.

I heard Jonah shout my name out when I fell down. I saw him got knocked out by the male subordinate in an instant.

I was forced to watch them walk away and were eventually out of my sights. That was then I felt the numbness go away and the pain had replaced it in an instant. I screamed out loud in pain as I found more blood pool down beneath me.

I tried to get up, but it hurts so much that I found myself fall back down if even more pain arising. I knew it shouldn't be this painful at all, but I think what the girl was muttering earlier had something to do with it.

My breathing was short and unstable. It felt like my lungs were being contracted and it hurts as hell.

My eyes suddenly started to get watery, and before I even knew it, I was crying again. I didn't know if I was crying for Jonah, or crying from the wounds. I couldn't tell either way. But the pain seemed to dominate over my feelings at this point.

I tried to scream out for help, but my voice was already worn out from my earlier screams. And so, I gave up.

My eyes were already heavy, indicating that I was losing my consciousness. I just hoped Jonah would be alright. With that, I closed my eyes.

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**A/N: Big cliffhanger there right? I wasn't shooting for a long and bloody fight, which resulted into a shorter chapter. But I promise, the next ones will be longer. Review please?**


	4. Back to Square One

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: That was pretty bad of me right? I went overboard again.**

**I noticed my chapters have been shorter, but I've been trying to go into detail, but only end up making it a little worse. Which is why if any beta reader is willing to beta read my next chapters, please, do PM me right away. Read and review!**

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**~~Back to Square One~~**

Where am I, again...? I don't remember... All that I could was that I was being carried somewhere...

My body was suddenly kicked out of nowhere.

And the words, "Get up sleepy head!" came ringing to my ears...

Where did this come from? Or, who did it come from?

"Come on get up!" I felt another kick hit me, and I think it made me roll over onto my backside...

"Won't wake up huh?" Another kick was delivered to my stomach. The pain was too much, it made my eyes open...

My eyes were greeted with something bright. I was covering my eyes with my hands.

I sat up trying to recall what happened. That was when it hit me. I remember everything. I was taken. Yuffie was... beaten up.

I looked over and I saw somebody, I didn't know this person. He had gray hair, but he seemed like he was still in his early 20's.

"Who are you?" Was my question. He didn't answer. He merely stood there with his arms crossed and eyes locked onto my face.

"Hmph. I guess my work here is done." His voice sounded so deep and baritone. He turned around and walked to the door. He opened it and closed it as soon as he stepped out.

I didn't know why I didn't bother to make a run for it... I guess you could say it was the stinging pain around my stomach.

I checked my surroundings. There was a small bed in the corner, complete with blanket and pillow. A chair was resting on the other side alongside a desk. A single florescent lamp lit up the entire room from the ceiling. It was shaped like a tube, maybe around 2-3 meters long from my perspective. There was another florescent lamp, although smaller in size, resting on the desk. It could have functioned as a night lamp if I wanted.

A window was located in between the bed and desk. The place looked like a simple bedroom, however it was lacking life and color. In short, it was dull.

I pulled the chair over to sit beside the window so I could look outside. I wondered how Yuffie was doing. I just hoped she wasn't hurt badly. I noticed it was about nighttime already. I couldn't really see anything from here, just sand.

The next sound really surprised me. It sounded like an engine starting. The room started to rumble a little. Then I noticed... We were flying.

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I woke up in the midst of darkness. I was lying in a pool of blood. It wasn't mine though.

I slowly got up with my vision ever so hazy.

I saw a light, I made my way towards it and I was met with a slash across my left arm.

I winced in pain as the cut went from my shoulder down to my elbow.

I was surprised to see my shuriken on the ground. I picked it up and threw it without any target to hit.

It came back and I tried to feel where my attacker is gonna hit next.

I was right as I was able to dodge a near fatal blow.

We went on exchanging attacks and blocks for a few minutes when I managed to get a clean cut on his chest.

I quickly followed with a Thundara spell. I was never the mage of the group, but I had to try.

In the midst of silence, I heard a loud thump on the ground as if my opponent was dead.

"Looks like I win." I said to nobody in particular.

Suddenly, I heard clapping sounds coming from behind me. I turned around only to see more darkness.

"Very good Miss Kisaragi." I knew this voice. "Or should I call you, Princess Yuffie? Daughter of Godo Kisaragi." How did he-?

I could tell he was walking over to the person who I had killed earlier.

"My my. You seem to have gone all out on him. You're colder than what I had expected."

"Don't you dare call me that! I am the single rose of Wutai! I am the great ninja Yuffie! You have no right to call me heartless!" I felt kind of weird after saying all of those.

"Such big names for someone who had just killed her precious little friend." Wait, just **who** the heck did I fight earlier?

"You seem more naive than I thought."

My eyes were then greeted with light.

Blocking my eyes from the sudden change of atmosphere, I tried to adjust to the new lighting.

I then saw the body.

It was him.

No.

It can't be.

It couldn't be!

He can't die from something like that!

"It's...I-it's not true."

"Oh but it is." My eyes were now closed and my hands blocking my ears to stop any other lie he's trying to feed me.

"You killed him. Your friend. The one who loved you. The one who said he'll keep you safe."

"I...I d-didn't...k-k-kill him." My voice was now broken as tears started to generate.

"Yes you did. Just open your eyes and see for yourself." For some reason my eyes were opening.

I killed him. I was now screaming my lungs out as his words kept on repeating itself over and over in my head:

_'I guess you could say I love you.'_

Why? Why did he say that?

Hugging myself, I kept on crying and crying as I felt my heart was being crushed in torn to pieces.

I fell to my side, blood pouring beneath me, and before I knew it.

I was dead.

.

..

...

....

.....

....

...

..

.

With a scream I awoke with my body jerking up, my heart thumping, sweat running down my hair, tears running down my cheeks. Quite ironic, Jonah had his own nightmare a week ago.

"Calm down Yuffie!" I heard a voice come from beside me. I saw Tifa looking at me with concerned eyes. She must have been the one who brought me here.

I know I can't stay here. I have to help him. Without a word, I pushed down the covers and jumped off the bed. As I landed, a sharp pain ran through my ribcage, I tried to comfort it with my hand.

It made me wince a little because it caught me off guard and got me down on my knees. I noticed it was covered in bandages, rather nearly my whole body was covered with bandages.

"Hey! You're not supposed to get out of bed yet!" Tifa immediately ran over and helped me up.

"I can't! They got Jonah! They have him! They'll kill him!" I tried to free myself of Tifa's grip.

"Who's got him?" She only retaliated by gripping my arm tighter.

"I don't know! But, I would know if I saw them!" But I knew this woman was a heck of a lot stronger than I will ever be.

"OK, OK. Just calm down!" I bet she could knock down an entire stadium if she wanted.

"I can't! Who knows what they might do to him!" And so I gave up.

"Calm down Yuffie!" Tifa was now holding me by my shoulders.

"Listen to me. Jonah is gonna be alright. We're going to help him, but only until your wounds get healed up."

"But-!"

"No buts!" She said with that commanding tone of hers.

After a moment of silence I dropped my head in defeat. "Fine." I don't know how, but tears were again running down my face.

"Don't worry, everything is gonna be alright." Tifa pulled me in a small, comfortable hug while caressing my back and patting my head every once in a while.

Eventually I did calm down and Tifa led me back the bed. She put me under the covers again saying, "Jonah is gonna be fine, but only if you believe in him." While caressing my cheeks which were a little rough from the crying I did.

"Now rest up. We're having a big day tomorrow." I was reassured that it'll be fine for now. I couldn't help but smile at it.

Once Tifa was out of the room, I kept thinking about Jonah's words to me:

_'I guess you could say I love you.'_

Did he mean it? My own curiosity was driving me crazy. But I knew I'll get the answers soon enough._  
_

I snuggled under the covers, fixed my head a little, and closed my eyes. I slowly drifted once again into the realm of sleep.

\\\\\\\

It's been a day and a half since we were flying. We're currently in the middle of the ocean, on our way to Junon, where Shinra's military base was once located. It would probably take another two to three days before we get there.

The airship I'm currently in is heavily armed and defended. It has a couple of escort planes around it (So far I counted around six or more). And they didn't seem to be in any rush, coupled with the fact that this thing weighed about more than a ton, so it's probably why we're taking so long.

I just hoped Yuffie was alright.

* * *

**A/N: Pretty short chapter, just wanted to get this chapter done by today so I can clear my head and try to think things out before I make a mistake. Also, I never played the original FFVII, so I never knew how fast it would take them by airship to get to Junon from Midgar. Review!**


	5. Retracing Steps

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: **To those who have read chapters 2 and 3 before April 25, 2010, I have updated them to be more plausible.

Anyway, read and review!

* * *

**~~Retracing Steps~~**

It's been hours. We couldn't find anything to help us find Jonah. They must have covered up everything.

We've asked several civilians if they have seen anything suspicious sometime two days ago to yesterday. Some have said they have, but all were just weird rumors or monsters lurking through.

I was never one to give up, but I was actually losing hope. That was when Tifa ran back to me with a 12-year old looking girl in tow.

"She said she saw three people carrying a person all the way to the out skirts of the city."

"That's them!"

"Follow me." We both followed the little girl to where she had seen the perpetrators heading.

"Over there." She said pointing in the distance. "There was something huge there. It took off the night before yesterday. It was headed for Junon." It was them alright. "Is something wrong? Why are you after it?"

"We don't have much time to explain. But in short, one of our friends was taken by the people you saw. And we're looking for him." Tifa said after kneeling down to the little girl's height and placing one of her hands of the girl's shoulders.

"Oh, ok then. Good luck." She said before taking off.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Call in Cid and follow them."

"No."

"What?"

"No! No way am I riding anything that flies! EVER!" Motion sickness is annoying. I have to cure myself of it before I actually die from it.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll figure something out." Knowing Tifa, it would probably be dragging me in there no matter what it takes. I had a bad feeling about this.

\\\\\\\

"Help! Somebody help me!" I was screaming at the top of my lungs trying to free myself of Tifa's grip; who was trying to get me inside the _Highwind_.

"Come on Yuffie. If you want to save Jonah, you'll get through this!" She was literally dragging me in with one hand, ONE HAND!

"I can't do it! Go on without me!" I was being overdramatic.

I was given a quick slap to the face after that. "Get a grip!"

She did let go of me when we were inside. I rubbed the part where she had hit me. It wasn't totally painful, but enough to convince me. "Sorry."

"Alrighty, where are headed?" Cid said while holding his cigarette on his mouth.

"Junon."

"Junon? Are you %&#$-ing kidding me?" I didn't know if the %&#$ was a censor or something, but it came out funny. "I can do that in my sleep!" Of course he can.

"Oh well, we'll be taking off in half an hour. Just need to recheck if everything was set." He said while walking off to the engine room.

"Is anyone else coming?" I had to ask. I didn't know if Tifa invited anyone else to come along.

"Yes, they should be here any minute now." They? Who's they?

"Sorry we're late." Oh no. "I had to pick up Cloud here." I turned around to see the other members of Avalanche inside the room consisting of Barret, Cloud, and Red. I wondered where Vincent was.

"Why is he here? Wait, rather why are THEY here!?"

"I had to get Avalanche back together, because it wouldn't be much of a rescue or an adventure without all of us."

"Where are Vincent and Cait then?"

"I don't know."

"Little guy must be off somewhere on the other side of the Planet. And Vincent is probably hanging upside down a pipe by now." Barret butted in.

"Aww, it wouldn't be the same!"

"Alright, everything is ready." Cid stopped as he saw the others. "What the heck are they doing here?" Without an answer, "Nevermind. The more the merrier." He went up to the Command Deck to man the wheel. Everyone else followed but me.

"I'll be in the engine room if you need me." I said while laughing nervously because I wouldn't want them to see me the way I'm gonna be in a few moments.

"Why?" Red knew the answer why. I guess he wanted to tease me as I did the same to him before.

"Shut up."

"OK." The door closed and I leaned my back on the wall.

"Alright, we're taking off!" I heard Cid say over the intercom near the door.

"Roger that." I said to myself as I tried to prepare myself for the obstacle that is my motion sickness.

As soon as the _Highwind _went off the ground, I felt my head was starting to spin. "Oh man." My stomach was acting like it had butterflies in it and I really felt like vomiting. "Not good." Eventually I gave in and did puke. A lot.

It seemed like I would have lost a couple of pounds from that. I did manage to get a hold of myself after less than half a dozen times of vomiting.

I remembered something Tifa told me that could temporarily help with my motion sickness. It was either to close my eyes, or just take a nap. I closed my eyes for a moment then suddenly fell asleep for the next few hours.

\\\\\\\

I woke up as I heard the intercom come alive with Cid's voice. "We've got a visual on something huge. Could be a battleship, might wanna take a look at this."

I was having trouble getting up and walking to the door, and having greater difficulty trying to hold my insides stay where they are.

As I got the door open, I noticed they all were looking at me.

"What?"

"You don't look so good." Those were Cloud's first words today.

"Been better." I sat down beside one of the control panels. Luckily Tifa was there to try and comfort me.

"Oh yeah, a hell of a lot better once you clean up all of that stuff you left behind!" Cid was certainly pissed off at me for puking. Hey, can't blame me for having motion sickness.

"So, what's this thing you said you saw?"

"That." I looked over to the front of the ship, and I saw this massive battleship.

"Holy cow."

"That's what we're up against? Seems too easy to find. And the fact that they've been flying for more than two days, this feels unlikely." I had to agree with Cloud on this one.

"Could it be a trap?" Barret seemed to be on the same as we were on.

"Possibly."

"What's the risk?" As I said that, the entire room shook violently.

"What the hell?"

"Those &%*-ing ships are firing at us!" The room shook again as fire began to appear at the ship's side. "Aww $#%&!"

"This is bad!" I fell down on my hands and knees as the ship shook again. I once again felt the urge to vomit, but I managed to keep it in as I covered my mouth. I couldn't see the others because my eyes were closed.

Another hit sent me flying to the front of the deck.

"Uhh Cid? What are you doing!?" I heard Tifa say out loud.

"What's it look like I'm doing!? We're going to crash into that hunk of junk!"

"What!?" I was going to try and go against this, but it was too late as we had already made contact with the ship.

\\\\\\\

I was violently woken up when the ship shook. I knew something was happening outside.

The door opened with the man a couple of days ago and two or three soldiers went inside. "Get up. You're being moved." Before I could protest or even say something, I was suddenly being dragged out of the cell and being escorted towards my new 'home'. Hooray...

\\\\\\\

I couldn't remember what happened next, but I was sure I was the last one to wake up from the crash as everyone else were already up.

"I'll be waiting for you guys. Signal me when you're done."

"Will the _Highwind_ be alright?" Cloud asked.

"Nah don't worry. This hunk of junk is gonna die soon anyway." Cid flew the _Highwind_ away and held off the smaller planes from annihilating us.

"We've got company." I turned around only to be met with several soldiers pointing their guns at us. I was about to draw out my shuriken when Cloud stopped me.

"You worry about finding Jonah. We'll take care of any resistance." Without a word I ran and jumped over the soldiers. As I jumped over them, everyone else had already started attacking. Running towards where the soldiers came from, I found myself outside the ships miles above the ocean. "Woah."

\\\\\\\

Walking down several hallways isn't charming. Partner it with the fact that I'm being held prisoner, just made my day a whole lot worse.

We passed by a bridge and I got to get a glance on who was attacking, and I knew it was them.

\\\\\\\

I held one of the guards by the shirt and began questioning him.

"Where's the prisoner?"

"Down there." He pointed towards a set of stairs leading down to the next floor which I could have guessed with more security.

"Thanks." I let go of him and went down preparing for the next round of guards. But it was empty. An open cell door was located at the end of the hallway. I made my way towards it to find it was also empty.

"Damn it where is he?" I muttered under my breath.

I suddenly heard a gun cock behind me. "Drop your weapon, turn around and put your hands behind your head!" And I did so what he told me. Before he could fire he was knocked unconscious by somebody. To my surprise it was Jonah.

"Can't let you have all the fun now would I?"

\\\\\\\

"Can't let you have all the fun now would I?" Without a word she ran over and hugged me with all her might. "Wooaaah, hey I missed you too." And I hugged her back.

Our hug was broken with an "Ahem." behind us. To my surprise it was the entire gang, missing Vincent, Cid and the small cat on Nanaki's/Red's back. "Sorry to break the passionate moment, but it's best that we get a move on." Barret said while pointing at Cid's airship probably waiting for us.

We quickly got on the airship and Cid used his Limit Break (Which involved the _Highwind_) to destroy the battleship and its escorts.

\\\\\\\

**A/N:** Spoilers will be present for the next few chapters for those who have not read "On the Way to a Smile". It covers basically what happened to Cloud and the gang after the events of the original game leading to the events of Advent Children. I'll be covering Case of Yuffie (Obviously) with some slight changes and I'll be basing it on the translation of Xcomp.


	6. On the Way to a Smile 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: **Just for the sake of sticking close to the canon, I have done for those who have not read "On the Way to a Smile", at least "Case of Yuffie"'s. I merely copied and pasted most of the stuff and parts were only altered to include Jonah in.

I did not make the translation or anything, and all the the credit goes to Xcomp. And I still feel bad for not getting permission for using his translation, but I hope he doesn't get mad at me.

\\\\\\\

**~~On the Way to a Smile 1~~**

It's been nearly a month since my kidnapping. And now Yuffie and I were on our way to her hometown of Wutai. We've been riding on chocobos for almost a week and my butt was already numb for the past few days.

"And so, now I'm the one with the most materia in the world. What do you think of that?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know!?" I merely gave her a confused look as I didn't really care whether or not she had the most materia.

"Nevermind. Do you think I should buy some new clothes somewhere? These clothes got all worn during that long journey." Now that she mentioned it, she was wearing the same thing she wore when she found me.

Yuffie was thinking about the people of Wutai who she expected will be welcoming her home. She was sure they already heard that the planet managed to avoid the Meteor because of them -By them, mostly I mean Cloud. That's why they will surely gather together to hear her stories.

At least that's what she thinks what would happen. I still highly doubt it.

"Oh wait. These worn clothes will help show how much hardship I've been through. I'll keep these clothes as they are. But more importantly, I better prepare my stories!"

"I wouldn't get so worked up about those stories you know."

"And why is that?"

I sighed.

"Th-this isn't good—" Finally she realized that she didn't know how a lot of the important things had happened and in what order just before the world was close to its end. There was a lot of things Yuffie, who only joined them some point during their journey, didn't know.

Trust me, I have asked Tifa and Cloud what really happened when she wasn't around because I didn't believe her interpretation of the story either way. And it's not like I don't trust Yuffie, it's just that she didn't know everything.

"I wish I asked them about it— But whatever. I'll just have to improvise. The former SOLDIER Sephiroth that the evil Shinra Company created was thinking of great evil deeds. As Cloud and his friends fought Shinra Company, they pursued Sephiroth. When Sephiroth was cornered, he tried to use the Black Materia to summon a small meteor to crash into the planet. We risked our lives and stopped him. Yes, perfect. Easy for them to understand."

"I don't think so. Even I wouldn't believe that unless I saw it with my own eyes."

"Very funny. Oh and Jonah."

"What?"

"You owe me."

"Owe you what?"

"Well, one I saved you from your death. Two, you had me all worried about you. Three, you had me ride on an airship."

"Hey! It's not my fault you were born with motion sickness."

"That is true though. And four-"

"Four?"

"Yes four. You held back my arrival to Wutai for more than a month."

"Seriously? It was your choice that you just had to save me you know."

* * *

Wutai was in sight. Yuffie stopped her chocobo and gazed at her home in the distance.

"Huh? Why am I…?"

I looked over at her and Yuffie was crying and she was trying to wipe them away.

It was early morning. After releasing our chocobos, Yuffie ran down the paths without looking up. She ran at full speed towards the house where she expected her father Godo to be. I followed her lead without a word while trying to analyze my surroundings.

Godo was standing by the door, hammering at a post.

"What are you doing?"

Godo turned round when he heard Yuffie's voice.

"I'm back. It's all over."

Godo nodded with dignity—

"I'm glad you're back safe, Yuffie. Who is this man with you?" He looked over at me with a questioning look but merely shrugged it off. "But listen my daughter, the town is in much trouble. Help me. Wutai is in need of assistance from young people like you."

Godo lifted up a bag full of tools onto his back and started to walk towards the center of town.

"Hey wait!"

Yuffie hastily followed. Her father seemed to be in a hurry and was walking briskly along.

"You've heard of what I've been involved in right? What happened to the welcoming party? Where is everyone?" I also had started to notice the lack of any people around. The place seemed so quiet despite what Yuffie had told me.

As Yuffie protested, she briefly talked about how she and the gang summoned the Lifestream and saved the planet. Godo stopped and turned round, looking at her with a dubious face.

"I know nothing about what you've done. What I know is that the world got dragged into a mess that the foolish Shinra and crazy SOLDIERs caused. In the end, the universe's will was to end that dispute and it summoned Meteor but, our planet defended itself by releasing the Lifestream and destroyed it—That is the way I understand it."

Godo spoke with a serious face.

"The universe's will? Who came up with that stupid story?"

"How is that even possible?"

"That is my interpretation. Perhaps the truth is different but, what I know

is enough. And Yuffie. Don't go about saying you were involved. The effects of the Lifestream is vast. Even though people understand it saved the planet, there are still some who are unhappy at what has happened." I seem to understand and agree with what he was saying.

"What!?"

Yuffie raised her fist, punching the air in protest.

"What's happened to the town—"

Yuffie looked around her as she talked, obviously displeased with what she was hearing. She never noticed it when we arrived but, many of the buildings were damaged. Among them was a red roofed training hall which now had a large hole in its wall. We could see many of the tiles from the roof had fallen down too.

"What happened here exactly?" I had to ask in Yuffie's place as I stepped forward.

"The Lifestream passed through here. It was a horrifying night when the buildings shook. Perhaps it's nothing compared to the victims in Midgar but, there are many old buildings here. You might not see much damage outside the structures but the posts and beams are probably broken. I won't be surprised if the buildings collapse some day. That's why I'm using this hammer to—What's wrong, Yuffie?" He seemed to have noticed how Yuffie was acting right now.

She gazed at the people who were gathering around her and repairing the buildings. Many of them were bandaged unfortunately.

"Is everyone alright? Anyone badly wounded?"

"There's quite a number of people wounded. But not many of them are that severe."

"So they're few in number."

"Seems like it."

"You're right—But what can you do about it? Now come help me fix the buildings."

Godo took out two new hammers out of the toolbox and handed them to Yuffie and me.

"I don't mind. This will help, right?"

Yuffie took out one of her healing materia and showed it to her father.

"Ah—" Godo looked at Yuffie warily. "Do you have any more?" He suddenly had a weird look on his face like how Yuffie would at the sight of new materia.

"No. There were a few more of this type of this materia. We were really planning to bring more back but you know, the attack type would be too dangerous, wouldn't it?"

"That is good. A wise decision."

Godo walked over to the red roofed training hall and began to examine its condition.

"It looks like we can fix this easily."

He then called out around him.

"Hey, give me some help everyone! We'll turn this place into a hospital."

* * *

I was sure my life as a materia hunter was at an end and was going to start a new page as the magnificent "Doctor Yuffie". Everyone that came to the hospital thanked me and Jonah. I still wanted to tell someone about what happened to us during our journey but, faced with those who were injured by the Lifestream, the idea never came to mind until the end of the day.

Some of the people possessed wounds that even the materia we had couldn't heal but, we were sure they would heal gradually if cared for well. I was never the mage of the group and seems like Jonah was never the mage himself as we were exhausted already around half of the patients.

Materia was the crystallization of the Lifestream. To withdraw the power from the stabilized crystal, some form of shock is required and this is triggered by the mind waves of the user. As a result of that, the materia user's mind is significantly weakened. At least that's what I've been told.

The exhaustion was difficult to bear and being assaulted by drowsiness, I had stored away the "Dr. Yuffie" sign by evening, immediately curling up in my futon and was going to sleep.

"Ugh…"

Tomorrow I'll take a break from healing for the day and go somewhere to find a supply of ethers or something similar. Wait. I wonder… did Cloud and everyone else stop traveling after they used up all their ethers? Was the thought lingering in my mind.

I rolled around to spot Jonah leaning on the wall. _"_Aren't you gonna sleep on your futon?"

_"_Nah, the ground is too hard to sleep on_."_

I sighed and we exchanged "Good nights" before I drifted into sleep.

\\\\\\\

I was woken up by sounds.

Thump thump—

Bang bang—

Someone was banging on the wall.

"Shut uuuuuup!"

Yuffie cried out and jumped up from her futon. Was there a problem?

The same sounds repeated themselves.

Thump thump—

Bang bang—

"What's going on outside?"

"Something's wrong."

"What?"

"This should do it. This should keep them both locked in." That voice!

"Huh?"

Yuffie rushed over to the door. She tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. I followed and gave my own try at the door. It wouldn't budge either.

"Hey dad! What did you do!? I can't open the door!"

"Ask your conscience. How can you try to hide something so important? Stay in there and reflect on what you've done!"

"What did we do wrong?" Yuffie placed her hand to her chest but besides letting her know she was alive, it told her nothing else.

"Dad!"

We assumed no one else was outside as it was too quiet.

"Is anyone there?"

Her voice sounded so helpless that even she was surprised at herself.

"Hey Jonah. What did we do earlier?"

"So far nothing that could be deemed bad. Is treating sick civilians bad?"

"No, it couldn't be that." I seemed to notice she was still drowzy from exhaustion. "Stupid dad. After I get some sleep I'll— I'll get you."

* * *

Boom.

It sounded like someone kicked the wall. We woke up. It felt like we've been sleeping for several hours.

"What is it now—"

"You stupid Yuffie!"

It was the sound of a girl's voice who was around the same age as Yuffie was. It annoyed her even more that a stranger was calling her stupid.

"Why am I stupid!?"

"It's your fault Yuri's mother is ill!"

"Ill? What are you talking about? What does that have to do with me?" Yuffie's voice again started to sound broken.

"You brought it here with you from Midgar, didn't you?!"

"What!?"

But there was no answer. Instead, we heard the muttering of adults. They're probably telling the kid not to talk to us.

Bang-

There would be some noise from the wall now and then. It sounded like someone was throwing stones at the training hall. When Yuffie thought about how the people hated us so much that they didn't care about damaging such an important building, her heart ached.

"What did we do? And what did we bring with us from Midgar?"

"I don't know." I really didn't know. All I know is that we brought some materia and maybe a couple of food for the journey. I looked up at her and she was crying.

"What did we do wrong?" Yuffie repeated those words to herself many times while crying every now and then, until the morning light seeped in through the gaps in the wall.

I felt bad for Yuffie, considering this was her homeland and all. But we didn't even know what the heck we did to make the people this much pissed off at us.

\\\\\\\

**A/N:** This thing is tougher than it looks. It's hard to squeeze in even a few lines for Jonah without altering the thing too much. Well, review!


	7. On the Way to a Smile 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: **Part 2. All credit of the translation goes to Xcomp.

**~~On the Way to a Smile 2~~**

"Yuffie? Yuffie, are you alive?" This time a boy's voice appeared. It didn't sound hostile, but more on the worried side.

"What kind of a question is that?" I said without trying to make it loud enough for the person outside would hear.

"Who are you?"

"It's me. Yuri. You don't remember me? We used to play together a lot when we were children."

We heard the unfamiliar voice again. I didn't believe this was Yuffie's childhood friend, because from the looks of it, Yuffie doesn't seem to know him either.

"How is your mother? She's ill, isn't she? It's not our fault though."

"My mum? Yes, it's true she's ill. It's an illness we don't know about. There's some black pus that won't stop coming out from her ears. It seems she's in pain too. It hurts just to look at her."

"I see—Must be terrible."

Yuffie said to him as she hung her head. I couldn't imagine what the symptoms or even what the illness does to a person.

"Yeah. But I don't think it's your fault, Yuffie."

"Huh?"

She looked up.

"Wait there. I'll get you out."

Eeeeeek. Eeeeek. The sound of pins being pulled away could be heard.

Soon, the door opened and Yuri appeared.

"Hey."

"Hello."

"It's been so long, Yuri!"

"You remembered!"

"Of course I did."

"Who's your friend?"

"He's Jonah. He may not look like it much, but he's a good friend."

"Hi there, I'm Yuri." He said as he extended his arm for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you." I extended my own and shook his hand in return.

"This is bad. Mr. Godo and the others are coming. Let's run for it."

Yuffie grabbed Yuri's inviting hand without knowing why. They both ran out of the training hall immediately, holding hands. I followed again without a word.

"Yuffie! Yuffie! Wait! Hey Yuri! You're going to spread the disease!"

We ran for the village's gate as Yuffie heard her father's voice behind her. She was really angry from the looks of it.

We ran for several minutes. It seemed no one was pursuing us any more. Yuri suddenly stopped and Yuffie bumped into him from behind and me almost.

"Why'd you stop?" I had to ask.

"This way."

Yuri turned to a path on the left and began running. It was then we understood why he stopped. A monster was eying us making hostile sounds. It was the kind that were just known as "small fries" to veteran fighters. As long as one took care to avoid their poison, they would hardly be of much bother. Yuffie pulled her hand away from Yuri's and stood ready for battle. I did so myself drawing my sword. Yuffie didn't have her weapon with her, but I was sure she at least brought some attack materia just incase.

"It's got poison."

"I know. Don't worry. I've got materia."

The monster leapt from the ground at me with a swoosh. Just as I was about to knock it down to the ground, a small knife flew through the air and pierced the monster. It fell to the ground and died after some convulsion.

We watched Yuri. He collected the knife from the monster and concealed it within the palm of his left hand. Yuffie knew that he was fully prepared for their journey ahead at least.

"Good throw."

"I'm not the weakling you knew from long ago."

"Then you should have fought it earlier." Me and Yuffie said at the same time.

"If something happened to me, mother would be left all alone. Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Are you sure it's alright to leave your mother behind?"

"It's just for a while."

Yuri took out a medium sized Shuriken from the leather bag on his back. In comparison to the giant version Yuffie was using, she seemed rather familiar with it.

"Use this."

"Sure."

Yuffie threw it immediately. The Shuriken flew into the air, drawing a huge arc before returning.

She caught it like an experienced user. "There."

"Just what I expected of you."

"I was looking forward to a treat from everyone."

"I'll treat you to something next time. At Turtle Paradise."

"That's not a treat."

Yuffie and Yuri sat together while I remained standing on some high ground where the wavering lights of Wutai could be seen far off in the distance. It seemed quiet for the time being. Yuri's been scouting around for any pursuers, but it seemed no one was following us.

"How's Midgar?"

Yuri asked her as he continued scouting around him.

"It was in a mess. The Lifestream came through there, then right next to it Meteor came crashing and not long before that there were explosions— And then there were lots of fighting too."

"What about the disease?"

"Well about that—What was with them? We know nothing about the disease. We don't even know why they locked us in." Yuffie was obviously angry.

"Mr. Godo didn't tell you anything?"

"Yeah. He probably didn't tell us anything because he thinks we're just kids and wouldn't understand."

"I see. But I think you're wrong. I think Mr. Godo just didn't know what he should say to you. I too didn't know what I should have said to my mother."

Yuri tried to explain with every information he knew.

Yuffie seemed speechless, so I had to say something.

"It sounds like a terrible disease."

"Yeah. According to what I heard from Midgar, the infected usually die."

"I see... How come we didn't see anything when we were there Yuffie?"

"They must have been hiding or it appeared when we were traveling."

Without any sympathy towards Yuri, Yuffie asked.

"Why is it our fault?"

"Yesterday we received information that a terrible disease was rampant in Midgar. Then they learned my mother and a number of others caught it too. It other words, it meant you must have brought the disease with you from Midgar. You're the only people that returned from there lately."

Yuri looked at us apologetically but Yuffie didn't seem to notice.

"Wait a minute! It's true we came back from Midgar. But why is it our fault? We never went to see your mother and I don't know any of the other people either! And on top of that, we're not even ill!"

Yuffie stood up in protest without thinking.

"Rats carry diseases but they're not ill themselves."

"Rats!?"

"Oh, it's just something the adults say."

"True. But they already show symptoms of them carrying a disease. Like drooling for example or a different walking pattern." At least from what I know.

"Right. Besides, my mother and the rest of the patients were wounded and they all received treatment from you. In the training hall, you know."

"It's all false accusations!"

"After that, the disease spread."

"We have nothing to do with it!"

Yuffie grabbed Yuri without thinking. I merely sighed.

"We'll clear your name."

Yuri calmly said. Yuffie eased off.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's what we'll do! There must be someone else who came back from Midgar. We'll find and expose them! I'll show those people suspecting us like this! Who do they think I am!?"

Yuffie shouted out all around her.

"You haven't changed. Me, me, me."

"Agreed." I said nodding.

"What do you mean?"

"Why can't you think about finding a cure instead of looking for the culprit? Let's go look for one. Together."

"—But."

That maybe true. But Yuffie was dissatisfied with the idea.

"If you heal them, the people will change their view about you. They won't be suspicious of you any more and will be grateful."

"Hmmm..."

Yuffie thought about it. What Yuri said was right. It would be for everyone's sake. But will she be content with this?

"Yuffie? My mother doesn't have much time left. I want you two to help me."

"OK." She was hesitant at first, but she did say it after a moment.

//////

Having escaped from Wutai, we headed south to the place known as the Materia Caves. The area was where the Shinra Company had once planned to set up a Mako Reactor and it was what triggered the battle. Mako Reactor Construction Area. To put it simply, you could say it was a fertile land filled with the Lifestream.

Long ago, it was a place that you could only be reached by chocobos that were raised and obtained special powers. However, after the Lifestream burst onto the surface, the geography has changed and you could now get close by foot. At least by Yuffie's words which cannot be entirely trusted but Yuri reassured me she was right this time.

The reason why Yuri wanted our help wasn't just because we had been around to witness the change. It was also because he had a glimpse of how abnormally attached to materia Yuffie was since she was young.

"There should be materia that can heal the Midgar disease too, right?" said Yuri. "Midgar disease" was the name he gave to the illness his mother and the other people had.

"I've never heard about any, though."

"I see—Isn't there anyone that might know?"

Yuri asked as he took out his latest mobile phone. Yuffie had an idea.

"Wait a minute."

Yuffie took out the PHS she had been using for her entire journey and put it to her ear. She stood there for minute before pacing back and forth every now and then. She had no choice and double checked the number saved inside the memory.

"Any luck?"

"No dice. Hey Yuri, can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure."

Then she took Yuri's phone and entered it. Someone picked up not long afterwards as she started talking.

"Hello? Tifa? It's Yuffie." She eventually put it on speaker for us to hear.

Tifa could be heard asking Cloud whether any materia that could heal the Midgar disease existed but he didn't know if there was any. They only knew how horrifying the disease was. Even in Midgar they had yet to find an effective cure.

Quite a large number of people have died because of it and people were afraid. First the Meteor and now this disease. It seems the world is just dying as it is.

Yuffie sighed and returned the phone. "Looks like they don't know anything either."

"I see—Any other cures?"

"—Look, there's a cave. It wasn't there before. Let's go look for some materia!"

Before I could say something, Yuffie ran towards the hole that was probably created when the Lifestream burst out.

Together we looked about inside the cave for any sparkling signs of materia for about an hour more or less.

"What is going on here!"? said Yuffie without any attempt to hide her irritation.

"There's probably none here because it's a new cave."

"Why did you choose this one?"

Yuri looked worried. Yuffie had no reason as always.

"If the Lifestream flowed around the planet then it must have moved the materia with it you know!" Yuffie said but in the end, she didn't know if that ever happened in reality.

"—Sorry. I-i believe in you."

His voice was shaking. We didn't like how we had to fight monsters as we walked our way around inside the dimly lit cave either.

"Come on! We'll find that materia!" She said as she tried to get rid of their -By their I mean them- fear. She was a little scared too so it couldn't be helped when Yuri was in these caves for the first time.

"Lets go outside for now and re-think our strategy."

I could sense Yuri's relief in the darkness.

Before long, we reached the cave's exit but we were faced with another monster. At a glance, it looked like a mole but its whole body was covered in needles.

"Seems easy enough." I said after sighing.

"Piece of cake!" Yuffie cried out to encourage us as she attacked. The shuriken she threw with all her strength hurt the monster. It retaliated, a fireball flying out of its mouth. Yuffie just manages to dodge it as it skims pass her. Yuri who had been standing behind her, also made a dramatic jump to dodge out of the way. I was at their side so all I did was stand there. The fireball hit the ground between us and exploded.

"Come on, Yuri!" Yuffie shouted at her friend whose attention had been caught by the explosion. Yuri cried out, panicking.

"Sokuhenka Shourai!"

That moment, Yuffie's shuriken returned to her like a boomerang. I made my move as I moved it and gave it a quick slash. Its blades cut through the monster dead on and we won the battle.

"Come on Jonah. That was mine."

"You're way too slow." "

Slow and scared. But it looks like you've been training yourself."

"My movements might be slow but I can do something when it comes to techniques."

"No no. You mustn't think like that. Speed is fundamental. OK?" True, but unadvisable.

Just as Yuffie was posing with pride about her speed—

"Look, guys." Yuri's face was gripped in fear. "Look at that!"

At the spot where the monster's fireball had exploded, a liquid was flowing out of it. Inside the dimly lit cave, they couldn't tell what it was but it didn't feel like water.

"Run." I shouted.

We ran. Yuffie and I looked we had sensed the same evil that the water seemed to possess.

Behind us, the liquid that had started to flow out to the surface slowly, suddenly burst out rapidly. It was hitting the walls of the caves and the ceiling too. Soon, it caught up with us and the liquid was falling down over our heads from the ceiling. We sheltered ourselves with our hands and kept running. Yuffie screamed as they reached the exit where she had placed a marker so that we wouldn't get lost.

Our vision adjusted. We were outside of the cave now. It was bright underneath the moonlight. Yuffie turned around to look. The liquid with the horrifying presence had slowed down now but it was flowing out of the cave they had been in. As Yuffie watched, she noticed something. The water was black.

"Hey, the water's black."

"It is?"

"Yeah, hey Yuri?"

But there was no answer.

"Yuri!?"

Yuffie hesitated for a moment but ran back to the cave and followed not far behind her. Near the cave's entrance, we found Yuri lying on the ground. She tried to help him up but even with all her strength, lifting him up by the torso alone was too much for her and that's where I came in to help.

"Get up, Yuri! Get up!"

"I can't. Yuffie, go. If you stay here you'll—"

"Idiot! I can't look after your mother for you, you know."

We turned Yuri around so that he was facing upwards and tried to pull him along by his sides with all the strength our -that I mean my- arms could muster.

"Just go—"

A black liquid came bubbling out of his mouth.

"What the?" We both said at the same time.

//////

**A/N:** Jonah still seems to lack some dialogue on this chapter, but it's hard enough to try and even put him in there.


	8. On the Way to a Smile 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything here except for the story, Jonah, and a couple of other original characters you'll never see in the real series.

**Author's Note: **Part 3. All credit of the translation goes to Xcomp.

//////

**~~On the Way to a Smile 3~~**

"Shall I give you some help?"

We turned around and saw Red XIII.

"Red!?"

"Can't you call me Nanaki?" said Red, err... Nanaki, displeased at the name.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a journey to see the world. I've just started, though."

Nanaki walked on easily with Yuri on his back. He lay there face down on his back like some washing hung out to dry and Yuffie had her hand on him so that he wouldn't fall off. Nanaki told her how he had planned to go to Wutai as his starting point and then go east from there.

He chose Wutai because it was at the borders of the Western region. Yuffie had told him that Wutai was the center of the world, isolated by the seas and stretched out to the east and west – Just the kind of world view one would expect of someone raised in Wutai. Yuri's back was shaking. Yuffie was afraid that he was having convulsions. But when she looked at his face, he was smiling. The black liquid from his mouth had eased.

"Man, you make it look so easy Nanaki." He was really.

"I'm used to it." he said while looking over at Yuffie with a grim look on his face. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at that.

"Tell me something interesting, Nanaki," Yuffie began to speak in a small voice.

"Hmmm—" Nanaki thought. "Oh yeah. I got a new mobile phone. I was told the PHS was really dated. When I returned to Midgar with Cloud and the others, they gave me one. It should have been paid for but the manager at a phone shop was giving out all the ones he could for free. He thought people would be too worried if they couldn't contact anyone during these hard times. He's a nice person."

"Hmmm. But can you use a phone?"

"Of course. It takes a while but I can if I put it to the ground and use my claws. I can use it with a bit of effort," replied Nanaki as he looked at Yuffie with a worried face. "I'm not giving it to you."

"Give it over!"

Yuffie went in front of Nanaki and he stopped. I sighed.

"It's better if I had it. Now where is it?"

She was looking all over Nanaki.

"You're serious, aren't you."

As Nanaki said that, Yuffie noticed the belt around his neck, hidden away by his fur. It seemed the belt was only long enough to circle around his body once—She squatted down and peeped close to Nanaki's throat. There she found what looked like a hard wearing small pouch made from some kind of skin.

"Heheheh, I found it."

"Yuffie, I'll remember this."

"Sure. Don't ever forget me."

Nanaki looked like he had given up as Yuffie stretched out her hand towards the pouch on his side.

"Yuffie, I'll give you mine." It was Yuri. "I got one too, from Midgar." He seemed awake and so I had to say it.

"What do you mean from Midgar?" I knew it.

"Wait a sec. I think I know now who brought the disease."

"Who!? Who is it man!?" Yuffie said while shaking me with her hands on my shoulders.

"Let me go first." I said in a firm tone. She did let go of me after groan.

"It's Yuri."

"What!?" She looked over at Yuri who seemed to have a worried look on his face. "Is it true?"

"Well, maybe..." He replied in a quiet way.

Blood was boiling inside Yuffie's head as she heard his words.

"You scumbag!"

"I'm sorry. I think I'm the one who brought the disease to Wutai. Then it immediately spread to my mother. Then from my mother to all my friends—I thought maybe we could find a cure—Let me down a moment. Thanks, Nanaki."

Together we sat in the grassy plains as the wind blew by—Nanaki lay sprawled out—when he listened to Yuri's story.

Yuri had learned that his mother was ill many months ago. It was an illness that was common amongst the adults. His mother became very weak-willed and always said she was going to die soon. He wanted to help her somehow. Remembering Yuffie who he had used to play together with, he decided to do what she did and leave to find materia.

However, Yuri didn't have the courage to explore the borders for materia and went to Midgar to ask for Shinra's help. It was just around the time when Meteor appeared in the skies. He visited the Shinra building many times but at the tip of all the chaos there, they wouldn't listen to him. Some of the staff had pity for him but in the end, the materia he needed wasn't for sale because it was equipment for Shinra soldiers.

"And then that day came. I waited at a cheap hotel in the slums for the Lifestream to finish passing by. Everyone was taking refuge from the upper plates but I went against the crowd and traveled upwards. There were many people that had caught the illness there."

After that, Yuri rushed back to Wutai. When his mother asked where he went, he replied that he had been having fun at the Golden Saucer.

"I couldn't tell her that I tried to bring back materia to heal her but failed."

"Well, I do understand how you feel."

Of course, it was needless to say he became a refugee himself but nothing could be done about it now.

"Hey, you know," interrupted Nanaki. "Materia is also said to be the crystallization of the Ancient's knowledge."

"Yeah, I heard about that."

"Maybe the Ancients didn't manage to heal the illness your mother has either. Maybe it never existed during the Ancients Era. So maybe there is no materia to heal it," said Nanaki.

"Hey, Nanaki! You can't say that. Maybe we just haven't found any yet." Yuffie stood up.

"But think about it. If that kind of materia really existed, there wouldn't be so many people infected—Ouch!"

Yuffie flicked Nanaki's nose with her fingers. She thought he maybe right. And that made her angry. Nanaki's reasoning meant that there was no materia in existence to counter the disease that was making people suffer, pushing them to their deaths as black liquids flowed from their bodies.

"What was that for?!"

"I hate you, Nanaki."

"What!?"

**//////**

It's had only been two days since we left Wutai. But outside of the town, we saw a small hut had been built. It was small but it had room to accomodate ten people.

"I wonder what that's for. Alright! Go investigate, Nanaki!"

"What? Why me?"

Nanaki looked at Yuffie displeased but turned and hastily sprinted over when she pretended she was about to flick his nose again.

"It must have really hurt," Yuri said laughing and chuckling myself. He seemed well other than his way of thinking.

Not long afterwards, Nanaki returned.

"Four people with the Midgar disease are gathered in there."

We all looked at each other as we heard his words.

"Yuri, get on," urged Nanaki. Without waiting for Yuri to struggle onto Nanaki's back, we ran off.

As we reached the small hut, Yuffie tried to find a window. When she finally found a small one, she peeked inside.

"See anything in there?"

"I saw four patients inside just as Nanaki said." After that Nanaki and Yuri arrived.

"What's going on here?" Yuffie turned around to ask Nanaki.

"I think they were forced out of the village because they have the disease—"

"And that's why they took the time to build a small hut like this?"

"That's stupid!"

Yuffie ran off again, circling around the hut and found the entrance.

"Wait, Yuffie!"

Yuffie ignored Nanaki and I who had tried to stop her and went inside.

"This is horrible! Horrible!" said Yuffie to no one in particular. I went inside after that.

"Oh, it's you Yuffie. It's been so long. But what are you angry about?" One of the patients said in a calm voice. Yuffie seemed to know this person, and from the looks of it, it was Yuri's mother.

"You all got forced out of the village because you're ill. That's horrible!"

Yuffie seemed understand the reasoning behind such actions but she couldn't accept it at all.

"But it can't be helped. The diseased have to be quarantined, " replied Yuri's mother still with her calm voice.

"But—but!"

"But" was the only word Yuffie could say.

"Yuffie-" I said as I put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down."

"I'm glad they made a place for me," said Yuri as if putting on an act.

"Are you sure? Are you really sure?"

"For now. I'll just have to bear with it until you two find a cure."

"What if... What if we couldn't...?"—She just couldn't bring herself to say it as small tears in her eyes had appeared.

**//////**

We spent around two weeks looking after the patients. The numbers increased even though the new patients hadn't been in contact with those that were quarantined.

"It appears the disease isn't contagious. Even though a quarantine's been set up, the number of patients are still increasing. In other words, well—I'm sorry, my daughter."

Even when Godo apologized, Yuffie still didn't feel any more at ease. She didn't care about what happened any more. She just wanted to know the cause of it all. She had forced Nanaki to leave the village, ordering him to gather information about the disease despite constant bickering among us. It was possible he would get infected too if he stayed.

"Something is definitely wrong with this."

"What is it?"

"How come even those people who have never even got near us suddenly get the disease?"

"I don't know."

"Hey, guys. There's something I noticed—" said Yuri, "I've been thinking about why some people are infected and why others aren't."

"You learned something?"

"Yeah. The people here are those who have suffered from another kind of illness before and those who were heavily wounded by the overflowing Lifestream. In other words, they're all people that think they're going to die."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and it's not just my imagination. It's the truth. Even I—"

Yuri prevaricated.

"You thought you were going to die?"

"When?"

"At the cave we went to. When I was soaked by that strange water and passed out—Hey!"

We all looked at each other.

"The water!"

Perhaps the water was the cause of all this. Yuffie immediately went around asking the patients. She asked if they had drank or were soaked in some strange water.

However in the end, a clear conclusion couldn't be made. Everyone noticed the water's taste had changed after the Lifestream erupted and passed by. They had thought nothing of it because to the people of Wutai who pumped up underground water to use, the taste always changed whenever there was an earthquake.

Apart from being soaked in the Lifestream being the cause, we felt we couldn't eliminate the possibility that the disease was somehow linked to the water and the condition the people were in at the time.

We then reported our opinions to Godo.

1. Take care when using water. It is unknown if boiling the water will have any effect but make sure you do so before use.

2. Do not think you are going to die.

"Very interesting."

//////

"Listen Yuri."

"What is it Jonah?"

"I knew it wasn't you." I said as I watched Yuffie in the distance running around with some kids following her.

"About what?"

"You being the culprit about bringing the Midgar disease."

"Oh- Then why did you point at me then?"

"You obviously looked like you needed something to get off your chest. And it was pretty obvious."

"Oh really, was it that obvious? And when did you notice?"

"The moment you wanted to go against Yuffie's statement of finding who brought the disease from Midgar." I looked at him with a blank expression on my face.

"Oh-" He looked down. I gave out a small chuckle.

"Don't worry. How about we start over?" I turned to face him and reached out with my hand. "Hi, my name is Jonah."

"Heh, very well." He extended his own and we shook hands. "I'm Yuri. Pleasure to meet you."

//////

**A/N: **Phew, the next chapter will include more of the actual story rather than focus entirely on "On the Way to a Smile", but the time it happened was still during the events of it.


End file.
